West Midlands Trains

"London Northwestern Railway" and "West Midlands Railway" redirect here. For the historical train company, see London and North Western Railway. For the former train operating company, see London Midland. For other uses, see West Midlands Railway (disambiguation).

West Midlands Trains
Top: Class 172 in WMR livery at Birmingham Moor Street
Bottom: Class 350 in LNR livery near Crewe
Overview
Franchise(s)West Midlands
10 December 2017 – 20 September 2026[2]
Main region(s)
Other region(s)
Fleet sizeWest Midlands Railway

London Northwestern Railway

Stations called at178
Stations operated146
Parent companyTransport UK Group (85%)
Mitsui & Co (15%)
Reporting markLM[1]
PredecessorLondon Midland
Technical
Length867.4 km (539.0 mi)
Other
Websitewestmidlandsrailway.co.uk
londonnorthwesternrailway.co.uk
Route map

Route map

  West Midlands Railway
  London Northwestern Railway

West Midlands Trains[3] (WMT) is a British train operating company. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trading names: within the West Midlands region as West Midlands Railway (WMR) and outside the region as London Northwestern Railway (LNR).

West Midlands Trains was created as a consortium of three companies, Abellio, JR East, and Mitsui & Co, which joined to bid for the West Midlands franchise; they were amongst the three bids to be shortlisted in April 2016, and were awarded the franchise during August 2017. JR East sold its 15% interest to Abellio in September 2021.[4] In 2023 Abellio sold its stake to Transport UK Group.[5]

In addition to the DfT, it is also accountable to the West Midlands Rail Executive for services that operate wholly within the West Midlands region. On 10 December 2017, West Midlands Trains took over operations from the prior operator, London Midland. As per the original terms of the franchise, West Midlands Trains is expected to continue to operate until March 2026.

  1. ^ "West Midlands Trains (WMT)". nationalrail.co.uk. Archived from the original on 11 June 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference dft921 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "West Midlands Trains Limited: Company no. 9860466". Companies House. Archived from the original on 10 August 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  4. ^ "West Midlands Holdings Limited Financial Accounts 2020/21". Companies House. 4 August 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  5. ^ Deakin, Tim (28 February 2023). "Transport UK Group MBO of Abellio UK completes". routeone. Retrieved 21 October 2024.